The Regional Office for Capacity Building Asia/Pacific (ROCB AP), in cooperation with the WCO and Asia Development Bank (ADB) organized the WCO National Workshop on the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) in Vientiane, Lao PDR from 6 to 8 August 2013. It was attended by a total of 27　mid level Customs officers of Lao PDR. Mr Yoshihiro Kosaka, Head of ROCB AP attended this workshop as an expert and Ms.　Krittika　Panprasert from Thai Customs also participated and shared her valuable experience in Thai Customs on the preparation of her country’s accession to the RKC.

In light of the Regional Strategic Plan 2012-2014, the ROCB AP makes every effort to accelerate Members’ accession to the RKC in the Asia Pacific region. In April　2013, the WCO Sub-regional workshop on the RKC for South East Asian countries, under the sponsorship of CCF Japan, was held in Malaysia with the involvement of three WCO accredited experts. As one of the follow up activities, this national workshop was held to provide targeted technical support to Lao PDR based on the gaps identified at the sub-regional workshop.

The outcome of this workshop is tangible, which has enabled Lao PDR to have an improved understanding of the RKC, particularly its benefits. Through the session on initial gap analysis, they now have a clear roadmap for future RKC accession. The experts agreed to render continuous support to Lao Customs based on their needs.